Median weekly earnings, fourth quarter 2011

January 26, 2012

Median weekly earnings of the nation's 101.5 million full-time wage and salary workers were $764 in the fourth quarter of 2011, not seasonally adjusted. Usual weekly earnings of full-time workers varied by age. Among men, those age 45 to 54 and 55 to 64 had the highest median weekly earnings—$993 and $1,029, respectively.

Usual weekly earnings of full-time workers were highest for women age 35 to 64; weekly earnings were $737 for women age 35 to 44, $757 for women age 45 to 54, and $742 for women age 55 to 64.

Among the major race and ethnicity groups, median weekly earnings for black men working at full-time jobs were $660 per week, or 75.8 percent of the median for white men ($871). The difference was less among women, as black women's median earnings ($601) were 84.8 percent of those for white women ($709).

These data on earnings are produced by the Current Population Survey. To learn more, see "Usual Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers — Fourth Quarter 2011" (HTML) (PDF), news release USDL-12-0092.